The Government has approved this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers the second part of the Recovery Plan, known as the addendum, to mobilize 7,700 million additional transfers, plus 2,644 million through the REpowerEU program and, the key to the document, up to 84,000 million in loans on favorable terms. The objective, as explained by the first vice president, Nadia Calviño, is “to help prolong the current investment cycle in the coming years”. The text, negotiated with Brussels, includes investments, some minor reforms and the creation of fourteen funds through which the credits will be channeled.
The addendum to the Recovery Plan includes, first of all, 10,300 million in additional transfers that will be added to the 70,000 million already authorized. With this extra the twelve Pertes that are underway will be reinforced. For example, the industrial decarbonization project and transformation of the intensive electro and gas industry will receive a boost of 2,720 million between transfers and loans, or the chip project will receive an additional 12,000 million.
The 84,000 million in credits will be divided into different funds. They will be loans with the interest rate that the community executive obtains in the issuance of the Next Generation EU funds, to which management expenses must be added. The type will always be lower than that of the Treasury, by fifty points, and, of course, that of the commercial network. The repayment period will be 30 years and the risk of non-payment will be borne by the autonomous community, which will have to return the money to the State and, by extension, to the European Commission.
The jewel in the crown is the Autonomous Resilience Fund, endowed with up to 20,000 million euros to finance sustainable investment projects in the autonomous communities. It will be managed in collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and will serve to finance investments in social housing, urban regeneration, sustainable transport, industrial and SME competitiveness, research, development and innovation, sustainable tourism, care economy, management of water and waste, and energy transition. In this way, the regional governments will have access to soft loans to be able to undertake these investments.
The private sector, for its part, will have access to up to 22,500 million in financing for sustainable investments. This fund will be managed by the Official Credit Institute (ICO), in collaboration with private financial institutions, to allow SMEs and entrepreneurs “to access loans for companies of all sizes and sectors of activity anywhere in Spain”. explains the Ministry of Economy.
The fund for small entrepreneurs will have several lines of financing. In the first place, the ICO-Green line with an endowment of 15,500 million. It will serve to facilitate loans to households and companies, both public and private, that are committed to investments that favor the energy transition. Namely, installation of solar panels and other modes of renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, circular economy or ship renovation.
Another line of 7,000 million in loans from the ICO will help the most needy companies to access financing that until now they do not have access to due to tougher conditions. Financial institutions have strengthened credit as a result of the rise in interest rates and this line will serve to cover the needs of companies that are being displaced. Within this line, the addendum reserves 1,000 million for the tourism sector. Specifically, to finance projects that promote new services, organizational or innovation changes, less waste generation or improvements in the sustainability of the property
The Next-Tech Fund, of 4,000 million, will serve to support the financing of the technology sector. And there will also be a part to promote the digitization of universities, a line endowed with 150 million.
Families and companies that are committed to the energy transition will have a new fund of 2,250 million. This line will make it possible to expand the tax credits that individuals receive for rehabilitating their homes. It also includes a fund with 4,000 million in loans destined to increase the stock of social and affordable housing, as Pedro Sánchez advanced in the last electoral campaign. Private developers who build or rehabilitate homes with energy efficiency criteria may also benefit from this line.
Another novelty in the addendum is the creation of a specific fund for investments in security. It will be endowed with 2,200 million and companies from the military and cybersecurity sector will be able to access it. It will be called the Cyber ​​Resilience and Security Instrument. Likewise, the already announced line of financing for audiovisual companies that carry out their productions in Spain is maintained. Its amount is increased to 1,500 million.
There will also be a social impact fund of 400 million, another of 3,000 million to expand the RED mechanism and guarantee the flexibility of employment, and another of 2,530 million to promote the Minimum Vital Income.
The European Commission now has two months to assess the addendum, although the bulk has already been negotiated with the Commission. The final approval, therefore, will take place after the general elections on July 23. In exchange for these loans, Spain has promised to implement 18 reforms, less in depth than those carried out with the first part of the Recovery Plan. “Measures aimed at increasing productivity and potential growth of the economy will be deepened, the strengthening of strategic autonomy will continue to be promoted and economic, social and territorial cohesion will be reinforced, with a focus on fiscal responsibility and the sustainability of public accounts in the medium and long termâ€, indicates EconomÃa.
The Government has also asked Brussels to extend the execution period of the Recovery Plan beyond 2026. It has done so together with four other countries: Germany, Luxembourg, Finland and Estonia. The objective is to manage to modify the milestones and objectives to “ensure that 100% of the European funds are used”. In the part of the electric vehicle, the calendar for executing the projects has already been extended to 2028. Economy will also extend the so-called Digital Kit to companies with more than 49 workers, offering digitization bonuses of between 25,000 and 29,000 euros.
